When the 11th generation Amazon Kindle Paperwhite was released in 2021 it had 8GB of internal storage and one year later, Amazon increased the storage to 16GB. Now, customers have the option to buy both storage configurations. One of the significant advantages of Paperwhite is that you can purchase and download audiobooks, and if you would like to have a bunch on your Kindle, 8GB is not going to cut it. Manga and non-fiction book files have increasingly become larger. Is Amazon going to discontinue the Kindle Paperwhite 8GB model?
When shopping for a new Paperwhite on Amazon, the 16GB version is checked by default. If you switch to the 8GB model, it says that this model won’t be available for up to 3 months, with no estimated ship date. The Amazon UK and Amazon Japan sites also no longer show the 8GB model. Amazon Canada does have the 8GB in stock, but for how long? If you want to buy a Paperwhite in most significant markets, the only option is to buy the 16GB. Luckily, the price increase between 8GB and 16GB is roughly around $10.00, so it is not breaking the bank.
People hang onto their e-readers for years; the average person does not upgrade to a new Kindle whenever a new one is released; there is no point. Technology doesn’t change from generation to generation; there are just slight incremental upgrades, never revolutionary. People want space and storage; the more, the better.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
